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This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at VCU chapter.

I don’t know about you, but getting ready in the morning would honestly not be such a hassle if I didn’t have to worry about my hair— especially because I have such coiled, thick hair. Now, don’t get me wrong, I love that I have the ability to go curly or go straight, but curly hair like this takes a team to handle. Before, I’d just straighten it in a salon every couple weeks. Okay, yeah, it looked good but there were way more cons than pros. For one, it’s EXPENSIVE. $65 every few weeks is kind of ridiculous to spend on hair. And on top of that, heat is so SO damaging to curly hair, so why take the risk? In the past year or so I went on an adventure to find a real way to take care of my hair, the way my hair wanted me to. The goal was to go heat free so that my hair would grow healthier and longer. After a year without heat, I’m proud to announce that it worked, and now I’m here to share what I did so you can go heat-free too. 

Get a Salon Treatment

This is the absolute first thing you need to do before you start working on your own hair. In fact, that’s what got me into a hair routine that works— because I found a place and a stylist who knew her stuff when it came to my type of hair (super coiled, thick, medium length— for anyone wondering). She gave me the basic knowledge of what my hair needed and I ran with it. The treatment I got mainly consisted of a deep condition along with a couple extra add-on services to put back moisture into my hair because it was so, so dry. (Here’s a secret— almost all curly/coily hair is dry, even if you think it isn’t.) So for your stop on the way to heat and damage free hair, go to a salon you can trust and do a curl treatment. (If you’re in the DC area, visit Salon Revive. They know their stuff when it comes to curls and completely fixed me up.)

Buy the Right Shampoo and Conditioner (… and Use it the Right Way)

Up until last year, I had been using generic Tresemme shampoo and conditioner. I thought this was fine as long as I bought the ones made for curly hair. I’ve never been more wrong. I switched to using Aveda’s Dry Remedy shampoo and conditioner and after I washed my hair one time, I saw a major difference. The products defined my curls and reduced frizz (which was such a problem for me) while also keeping it hydrated which makes ALL the difference in styling curly hair. Now, you don’t need to use Aveda specifically, but you should use something that is hydrating for your curls instead of a regular shampoo and conditioner. If you’re looking to use Aveda, they can seem more on the pricier side ($50 for the Dry Remedy shampoo and conditioner) but you only need to use it once every ten days. If you have super thick hair (like me), you should only be washing your hair every seven to ten days or it will be so dry and hard to style, so it takes forever to run out of shampoo and conditioner.

Lengthening Tips

Okay, so once you have your routine up and running, here are a couple extra things that you can do to get your hair a little longer. For one, add castor oil into your routine. Castor oil is probably one of the best things you could do for your hair because it hydrates your curls while lengthening your hair. I always put in castor oil with this moisture butter after washing my hair and the next morning my curls are CRAZY defined- and long too. Also, when you’re washing your hair, try to use a wide toothed comb instead of a brush. I don’t know about you but brushes take out my hair and make me lose a TON of hair just in the shower. Using a wide tooth comb and combing it out by section will help you keep your hair detangled but also healthy so it can grow like it needs to. Castor oil and wide tooth combs may seem easy fixes but they go a long way to taking your damaged hair to another level. 

I know that these tips may seem time consuming but in reality, they are a lot easier than you think. They also work way better than you can imagine so in the long run, it really is worth it. So try it out for a couple months and see how they workout because I promise you, it’ll work.

Merry is a third-year political science & economics double major at Boston University. She is a former fashion merchandising major and hopes to work in editorial fashion, PR, or social media post-graduation while also focusing on the journalistic aspects of both her majors. She currently contributes to a number of publications while simultaneously working as an editor at Her Campus BU. Merry was also previously the managing editor of Her Campus at VCU and worked as an editorial intern for Her Campus Media. Contact her at mariamgnebiyu@gmail.com & @merry.nebiyu on Instagram.
Keziah is a writer for Her Campus. She is majoring in Fashion Design with a minor in Fashion Merchandising. HCXO!